And so, from the point of view of Adams, our republic is both upside down and out of balance: We are using the brake for an accelerator and the accelerator for a brake. And such a brake as Congress can provide is not a thoughtful or deliberate one but only friction and confused inaction—less a brake than sand in the gears or a monkey wrench in the works. […]
The people, of course, are still the people, and still the same mob they’ve always been.